This week Pastor Josh looks at what doubt is and how it affects our relationship with God from John 20:24-29. We see how doubt is connected to pain, how it can create darkness, and what real faith actually looks like.
- Doubt is an experience every Christian goes through, but few know how to navigate it.
- First, we must understand that doubt is connected to pain. Doubt is not just an intellectual question that bypasses our hearts. Often we doubt when we are most in pain.
- Our doubt also creates relational distance from God, because our distrust of him grows. This creates a problem, because we distance ourselves from the one who can heal the pain that is prompting our doubt.
- We must strengthen our faith. But faith isn’t just some spiritual optimism. Instead, it means taking God’s promises and filtering them through God’s character, which leads to assurance.
- We do this best when we see the promise of who Jesus is and what he’s accomplished. When our view of Jesus grows bigger, so does our faith.
COMMUNITY GROUP QUESTIONS:
- Like Pastor Josh said at the beginning: doubt is an experience every Christian goes through at some point. What is some of your history with doubt? What doubts have been the hardest to walk through?
- Doubt is not just an intellectual question that bypasses our heart. No, it is a response to the pain we are experiencing. Pain prompts our doubt. If you were to look at the doubts you’ve experienced, what pain do you think prompted those?
- Doubt also creates relational distance because we grow in our distrust of God. We can’t be close to someone we don’t trust. But that’s a problem, because we’re distancing ourselves from the one who can address the pain that is prompting our doubt. How have you experienced this dark spiral? How has doubt led you to distance yourself from God or feel far from him?
- In all of this, we should seek to strengthen our faith. But faith is not just some “holy-hoping-for-the-best.” Instead, it is a strong sense that God’s promises are true because they are backed up by God’s character. What promises of God do you need to hold onto these days? How does God’s character assure you that he will come through on that promise?
- Finally, to grow our faith we must look to Jesus. We must see the glory of who he is, because our faith will only grow as large as our view of Jesus is. Our faith grows when the object of our faith is seen as bigger. How are you currently “viewing” Jesus? What about his character or his grace is helping your faith grow?